From the News Wire:

Site accepting applications through October 2008

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas, Sept. xx, 2008 – The popular WomensNet.net Amber Grant (http://www.womensnet.net/Amber-Grants/apply.php) is back—and for women starting small businesses, this year’s $500 grant could make all the difference.

With an application deadline of October 31st, 2008, the WomensNet.net Amber Grant helps cover start-up expenses like buying or upgrading equipment, hiring a Web site designer or advertising.

“Our primary focus is assisting women who are trying to start small home-based or online businesses,” explained Josh Prewitt, president of WomensNet.net. “No repayment is required or expected, although WomensNet.net hopes the winner will pass on the kindness by mentoring and helping others along the way.”

Founded in 1998 by Melody Wigdahl, WomensNet.net is an online women’s business community that exists to help women succeed in small business. The Amber Grant was created in memory of Wigdahl’s sister, who died at 19. Wigdahl established the grant to help other women in her sister’s name.

Women applying for this period’s Amber Grant won’t have to wait long to find out whether they’ve been awarded the funds: The new Amber Grant winner will be announced on WomensNet.net and in the WomensNet.net newsletter on November 30th, 2008. WomensNet.net is sensitive to women in difficult or dangerous situations who want to change their lives by starting a business; for that reason, the winner can choose to have her name withheld.

“WomensNet.net is a supportive, encouraging environment for women in business and those who hope to become business owners,” said Prewitt. “In addition to the Amber Grant, the site offers a wealth of resources and information to women at all stages of business ownership. We invite women to apply for the Amber Grant and take a shot at realizing their dreams.”

Women interested in applying for the Amber Grant can do so at http://www.womensnet.net/Amber-Grants/apply.php. Only applications received through that page will be considered, and applicants must be members of WomensNet.net (membership is free). Those who have applied for Amber Grants in previous years but did not win must resubmit their applications. To learn more about the Amber Grant or about WomensNet.net, visit http://www.womensnet.net.

Once again - some lucky random poster will get a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate just for posting!!

Business success folklore says that you should find your ‘passion’ and use this as the foundation for starting and building your business. That’s a great idea, I agree, but what about all of the crud stuff that goes along with running a business?

No matter what the core of your business is, or how much you love it, there are always tasks that have to be done…..that you simply don’t like, or aren’t especially good at doing. Maybe you’re an artist who hates the marketing side of business, or a chef that would rather eat nails than do the billing…

So - what do you do? Do you grit your teeth and tackle it? Do you outsource it to someone else - even when you really can’t afford to, just to make sure it gets done? Or does the marketing or training or accounting go undone until you simply cannot avoid it any longer?

Personally, I have gone through all of the above, and while I really prefer to hire some things out - I find that it’s not always been a good experience, and I often seem to wind up taking the chores over again - and cleaning up the mess that was left behind. So, I have pretty much accepted the fact that some business duties that I may not be terribly thrilled with doing, I still do better than anyone I have been able to hire to date.

And part of that is simply that my core business is not an ‘easy’ business to pick up, there are legal issues to be aware of from the marketing standpoint, and correspondence is often something that I have to handle personally due to the nature of the client’s questions. So, some of the things that take my time and not necessarily the best use of my time are quite difficult to hand off.

So, I cope as best as I can - and try to learn more patience with some things!

How about you? What do you dislike about your business? What do you outsource? What would you like to get off your ‘to do’ list?? 

Melody, aka The Netlady

(Note!! Everyone that posts will be entered into

a random drawing for a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate!)

Okay, you’ve made the big decision to go the entrepreneurial route - you have finally decided that J-O-B really does stand for ‘just over broke’ - but do you launch a business online (is anyone really making money there?) or do you go the ‘real world’ route and open up a real land based business (yikes! the start up costs!)

This is a question that I get asked all of the time - and it’s a tough one for most people to answer.

For myself, it’s not so tough because after 2+ decades of self employment, I have been on both sides of the fence. I have had several brick and mortar businesses, I have had the ‘corner office’ jobs in the corporate world, and for the past decade have been working from home, running a growing network of websites as well as a consulting firm.

In my brick and mortar businesses, I had massive overhead and employees. I had to be someplace at a specific time pretty much every day - and if we weren’t open - we weren’t making money. I was successful - and miserable.

So, long before the internet came along, I was looking for a money making strategy that would let me have a more flexible lifestyle. I have to admit that I am a non-conformist - I love to travel, and am inclined to work better at 3am than 3pm….

I started down the mail-order path, which was definitely better because at least I could pretty much work whenever I wanted to and where ever I wanted to. But there was still the tedium of fulfilling orders, and I had to check into the PO Box at least once a week….which shouldn’t have been all that much of a bother but well, it was.

The internet came along and I dove in. I have been online and full time working from home with either web based businesses or consulting with web based businesses since 1994. I have had ups and downs as with any business - but overall, I would not trade it for anything. In 1999, I moved from California to Cincinnati, Ohio - missed one working day! Now, between my Blackberry and my MacBook - and WiFi! - I can work from almost anywhere!

And I do a lot of different things - I strongly believe in the ‘multiple streams of revenue’ approach. My consulting firm brings in revenue, my sites sell tangible products, affiliate products, my own ebooks, and then there is revenue from the various ad programs on all of the sites as well.

I am no techie - I know enough html to get by, but with blogs, you don’t even need to know that, although it is helpful, I will admit. But I taught myself by searching Google whenever I had a problem.

The point is - from my perspective, the web is such a great place to start a business that I can’t imagine having a brick and mortar business anymore.

BUT - I have friends who cannot imagine working from home, and being online so much.

SO - here’s the questions: What was the driving factor in your decision: online business vs brick and mortar? And, do you ever regret the decision - or plan to make the change to the other model anytime?

For anyone that frequents our sites, you already know that we are BIG on living ‘la vida internet”…but we also recognize that the internet is a minefield of potential scams for those just starting out!

Whether you have just started your online business or are still looking for ways to get started, you need to know that there are a lot of people in the virtual world just waiting to scam you out of your money.

The difficult part is that if it ever happens - you probably will never be able to catch the ‘thief’ so protecting yourself upfront is the best way to go.

So here we go with 3 warning signs that could signal an online business scam:

It is very easy for a business to close their online shop and vanish without a trace – with your cash in hand.

1. Outrageous Claims: No Experience Needed, No Work, Make Oodles Of Money Overnight!

There are in fact legitimate businesses out there that will enable you to make thousands or dollars in a single day - and honestly, that IS the beauty of a successful online operation - there are marketers that do it every day without breaking a sweat - but not without experience, knowledge and plenty of hard work FIRST.

No matter what anyone says, you are not going to get rich online with no work, and no investment, and overnight. Ain’t happening. Nuff said.

2. Testimonials That You Cannot Cross-Check

Many sites give testimonials of various people or companies praising their products and services, but with no details of those individuals.

I recently read a blog post that said all testimonials should include the contact details and addresses of testimonials…WHOA! I have given a number of online merchants great testimonials because I really loved the product BUT - I do NOT want my home address blasted out there for everyone to see!! In this day and age - I consider that pretty dangerous!

Instead, l look to see if their websites are actually shown - and then check out the site. Does it exist? If there is a contact form (and there should be!) then contact the person and ask if they really  liked the product. If a business does not give out contact numbers and addresses of such people, then there is no way for you to cross-check those testimonials, and you should assume that they are fake.

Personally, I buy a lot of marketing products every month and subscribe to a quite a number of different services - and if I like the product, I will give a testimonial. I receive several emails a month asking for verification of my reviews, and I am always happy to respond to anyone that is cautious enough to actually check out a website’s claims.

3. “Limited” Quantity or “Limited” Time Offers

Yes, there are some software programs or memberships (usually the high-end sites like StomperNet or PortalFeeder) that really are limited in the number of ’slots’ available but these situations are very rare. If you are looking at a business opportunity that is so ‘hot’ that you have to make the decision today….and pay for it today - do everything possible to verify the identity of the company or person you are dealing with - and make sure you can get your money back if it doesn’t work out within a certain period of time. There are laws that govern most business opportunities (franchises, MLM etc) to avoid people being forced to make the “buy it now or lose the opportunity” decisions, and it’s for a good reason. If the amount in question is a substantial amount of money - then talk to someone by phone and get everything you can to make an informed decision.

There are very, very few true business opportunities online that really won’t be available in the morning if you don’t buy before you go to bed

There are, of course, more ‘buyer beware’ checklist items - but these are three of the ‘biggies’ to be on the alert for in your quest for a home-based business!

EBay has been the ideal home based business for years. Most of us started with the ‘clean out the garage’ model, and over time graduated to dropshipping, and in many cases, it has turned into a pretty significant fulltime income.

Over the last several weeks, several VERY disturbing changes have taken place at EBay as EBay seems intent on wiping out the very business base that built the behemoth, to focus on the corporate clientele that have taken a much larger position on EBay over the past couple of years, using EBay to sell off their excess inventory directly, rather than selling to the large discount chains as was the previous habit.

Here’s an overview of some of the most significant - and damaging - changes that affect you and I, the folks that have built home businesses around EBay….

1) The EBay Feedback system now only allows Sellers to leave POSITIVE for Buyers. On the other hand, Buyers can leave any kind of feedback they want for Sellers. This means that if you have a problem with a Buyer (gee - that never happens, right?) you are pretty much out of luck! So, if the Buyer feels that he should have received his widget in 3 working days - even though you clearly state that it takes no less than 10 working days for the widget to ship - he can give you a negative! And you are pretty much powerless since there is no arbitration system in place.

2) Neutral Feedback? HAH!! Guess what? They no longer exist! All of your neutral comments have now been converted to NEGATIVE feedback ratings. Top PowerSellers have lost their PowerSeller status and the perks that went along with it - including the extra discounts that were often factored into their pricing. Although the PowerSellers were given a period of time to ‘correct’ the situation - the bottom line is that Buyers are not terribly responsive to such requests - and this means that a huge percentage of PowerSellers…aren’t. An interesting side note here is that one PowerSeller that was hit by these changes…..is also one of the speakers at this week’s EBay Live Conference in Chicago……should be a very interesting speech…….

3) The Final Straw…….dropshipping is huge on EBay. My hubby has been very successful dropshipping on EBay - both through EBay partners such as Doba and others, as well as resources of his own, through his 25 years in the wholesale gift industry. Today he received an email from PayPal stating that any orders that were ‘known to be dropshipping” would result in a 21 day hold on the funds from the customer! The only way around this is to send PayPal the tracking notice when the product ships and supposedly they will ‘release’ your funds.

Personally - I have dealt with PayPal in the past over disputes - and the response times are horrible.
Basically, this means that if you have been earning a living dropshipping - you will now have to be financially solvent enough to cover all of your sales out of your own pocket, rather than paying for the product with the funds from PayPal. This pretty much will kill the entire dropshipping business model for most people on EBay.

4) No digital products - Ebooks were a HUGE seller on EBay and it was a great business model! Automated download, a real ’set it and forget it’ business model if handled correctly. But apparently it was not handled correctly by many and now ebooks and other digital items must be sold in DVD format and physically shipped. exactly why it was such a great business - you didn’t have to ship anything!

At one point, we had 4 stores on EBay and thousands of products, but we have been ‘branching out’ and are looking at other products, such as the EBay Affiliate program, niche store scripts etc.

After this latest round of changes, and the notice today from PayPal, we will be pulling 99% of our products off EBay.

As a home business - it no longer works for us.

Over the next few days we will be posting reviews of the various store models as we take them for a test drive - we will bring the pros and cons of every system!!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock lately, you’ve heard about Web 2.0.

Basically, Web 2.0 revolves around the interaction between a web site and it’s visitors. FaceBook, MySpace, Digg, are specific site examples of this type of interaction, but even just using a simple WordPress blog like this one allows for users to get ‘involved’ by commenting on posts.

For those of us involved in MLMs, this opens up a whole new way of reaching our market! I am not talking about spamming people on MySpace, either, as this will simply get you banned. Instead, by learning about the various sites, and how they operate (ie; their rules and regulations) you can use these wonderful and FREE resources to market your products and business opportunities through articles, joining groups or forums that allow sig files and much more.

Web 2.0 is all about connecting with people of like interests, building relationships and sharing information in a friendly, non-threatening environment. Yes, there are people out there that do take advantage of the social network sites, but more often than not, these people are quickly shut down.

Used responsibly, the social sites can be a huge asset and a major boost to building your business without having cold call a single person.

If you would like more information on using Web 2.0 to build your MLM business, you can get a free Guide to MLM and Web 2.0 at our sister site, Womensnet.net

P.S. This is a great guide for building ANY business, online or offline, through the use of social networks!

“Rebate Processors Wanted” “Make hundreds daily processing rebates online!”

I get really nice professional looking emails like this every day…so I finally checked into it - and here’s what I found:

For $39.95, I received a book about AFFILIATE MARKETING! I know, I know,  I can hear you asking what affiliate marketing has to do with processing rebates……..and in reality…….it’s a very creative concept and in fact is one used by a number of very successful affiliate marketers - BUT the way it’s being marketed is pretty deceptive as far as I am concerned.

Here’s how it works: you sign up for an affiliate program, and advertise the product through the usual methods (pay per click, article marketing, forums etc) and offer the buyer a ‘rebate’ - out of your commission - if they buy the product through your affiliate link. You just tell them to send you their receipt and you will send the ‘rebate’ to their PayPal address.

Now the truth is - this IS a very effective marketing tool, but you also have to be very careful. You want to make sure that if you rebate any money, that you only do so AFTER the refund period has passed - otherwise you could actually wind up losing money.

And of course, you need to know something about affiliate marketing.

So, while this is very deceptive advertising - the actual method is used by many, many successful affiliate marketers - and in fact, COULD make you a decent income - but it does require more knowledge and more effort than the ads would lead you to believe……but then that is pretty much the case with just about any worthwhile business venture!

Writing can be an excellent way to make either a supplemental or a full time income online. And before you say NO! - stop and think about the different options that might be possible (we are not talking about the next New York Times winner here!):

1) Do you have a hobby or special interest? If you are a crafter - could you write directions for a special project, maybe related to a specific season, event or holiday? A guide to getting started in a specific area of interest or tips to find more information on the particular topic?

2) Family recipes that everyone raves about? How about putting them together in a simple format - maybe with some pics of the finished product if you have a digital camera? 

3) There are real, legitimate sites on line that will pay you for your content! The best one to check out is AssociatedContent.com. Do NOT pay to join any site that claims they will pay you for your articles - because they won’t! Associated Content is a real, legitimate buyer of quality content

4) Start a blog - and monetize it with Pay Per Click ad options, such as Adsense or Yahoo ads. Spend some time getting the word out through the social networking sites, and watch the traffic come in - along with the revenue! But the key here is blogging on a regular basis!

5) Article marketing - this is a whole topic unto itself, which I will cover deeper in additional posts, but essentially it is the ‘art’ of using articles submitted to various sites known as ‘article directories’ to sell products. Usually, the products are Clickbank or affiliate programs, but they could also be your MLM products or your EBay items or even your own products on your own websites. Article marketing has become a very valuable and cost effective way to make money online. 

6) Good at doing research? Spend some time in forums, look at the headlines in all of those checkout counter magazines at the grocery stores - and then spend a little time online doing some research into the hot topics. People will pay well for short to the point reports on topics that can help them with their issues, problems or concerns. Again - you don’t need to be a great novelist - you just need to be able to do the research and put it all together in one brief, easy to read and (usually) inexpensive report.

So, as you can see, you DON’T need to be a world reknown author to make money as a writer online. There are lots of ways to use your skill with words or research to build your online income!

Working a 9-to-5 job can be rough for many reasons.  First, there’s the issue of office politics.  In many corporate offices, employees won’t get very far unless they quickly learn the art of sucking up, and that’s something that many of us just don’t want to do. Either we aren’t good at it - or we just don’t want to.

Secondly, there’s the issue of transportation.  If a job is not close, a person may have to spend hours in traffic and with the rising cost of gas these days, as well as insurance, this is becoming a critical factor for many people.  

Lastly, working traditional jobs cost money.  Employees (read that: WOMEN!) must factor in expenses associated with their daily lunch, business attire and worst of all, daycare.  Daycare alone forces a person to subtract at least $600 from their monthly salary. Have more than one child, single parent, or not making a huge salary - and finding work you can do from home starts looking very, very attractive.  

So, there should be no wonder as to why many people want to find ways to make money at home.  Unfortunately, this is not always an easy or perfect solution, either.  

No one should get an at-home job thinking that they will make money surfing the Internet and watching television.  In fact, legitimate at-home employment will often require a person to work much harder than if they were at an office. Potential at-home workers should expect that once they do get their job, they will have to put in longer hours for lesser pay, and most at-home jobs do not provide for advancement opportunities.  

Basically, if a person expects a larger salary with an at-home job, they will have to do more work, although as with everything - there are ways to make this happen as well - if you are willing to be creative, and consider work form home business ideas that are more ’self employment’ ideas as opposed to “telecommuting’ opportunities - you do have more control over your hours and your possible increase.

It’s up to you really, as to what you want and what you are willing to do! 

Some ‘advantages’, though, such as lower child care expenses, may be offset by higher costs in another area, namely health insurance. If a telecommuting company does offer health insurance, it’s usually significantly more expensive than what a person could get with a traditional job.  For this reason, whenever possible - especially when first starting your work at home ‘career’ or even your own home based business, it’s best that at least one person in a household works a ‘normal’ full-time job, so health insurance won’t be quite such an issue. 

But, as many can attest - even traditional jobs are cutting back on health care benefits - so if you are already paying for your coverage or are without coverage - you may  be in a better position financially so that you CAN afford health coverage, as a telecommuter since other work-related expenses will be reduced or eliminated.  

Yes, there are some disadvantages associated with working at home, and before you make the decision to work from home, or telecommute, you need to weigh both the pros and the cons, and understand that what may be perfect for one person - may be a disaster for someone else. But the bottom line is that if you truly want to work from home - there are options available for just about everyone - but it is never a simple decision and all factors must be carefully considered before you make the final decision. 

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Cincinnati, Ohio - The Womensnet Network has expanded it’s family of entrepreneurial focused sites with it’s latest offering - WomensnetOnline.com, a social & business networking site for women in business.

According to Melody Wigdahl, the 53 year old founder, “WomensnetOnline is a Facebook or MySpace for the self-employed woman, who is typically more concerned with making business contacts rather than building a huge ‘friends’ list. Our priorities are a bit different - and we want something that is more targeted, where we can maximize our time online with useful networking rather than filtering out the biz opp spam.”

WomensnetOnline launched in early February, and has seen the membership blossom to almost 500 members, mostly by word of mouth. The site is entirely free and offers the ability to search for potential business contacts among the membership, a variety of marketing opportunities and will be offering a wide range of free training, via teleconferences, webinars, and online video, in everything from Search Engine Optimization to Pay Per Click advertising.

“The web is a truly amazing environment in which to build a business”, says Wigdahl, “and there are so many resources available that make owning your own business a reality even if you have very limited time and funds. Our goal is to teach others where to find  these resources, and how to use them effectively, and cheaply, to build a successful business - and ultimately, a better life for themselves.”

WomensNet.Net, the core of the Womensnet Network, was founded in 1998, and is best known online for it’s Amber Grants for Women Entrepreneurs. The Amber Grants are usually awarded once a quarter. The current grant period closes March 31, 2008, and is open to any woman-owned venture, profit or non-profit.

There are no business or geographical restrictions. To apply, visit WomensNet.Net for the Amber Grant guidelines and application.

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About The WomensNet Network:

Founded in 1998, The WomensNet Network (WNN) launched with one site, WomensNet.Net. Today it encompasses more than two dozen sites, all focused on teaching people to create their own lifestyle through home based online businesses:

TheWorkAtHomeCouple.com, WorkAtHomeIdeasForWomen.com,  DadsConnect.com and many more! 

The Amber Grants for Women Entrepreneurs are awarded several times a year to deserving women entrepreneurs in loving memory of Amber Wigdahl, who died in 1981 at the young age of 19.